Still Searching
by River of Tears
Summary: It felt like all of the Bohemians were paired up except for him. Will Mark ever find someone after Maureen? Obviously postrent. New chap up!
1. Chapter 1

Still Looking

By River of Tears

**Disclaimer- You know I don't own Rent or the characters. I believe Warner Brothers does now.**

"December 5th, 7:30 pm Eastern Standard Time. Zoom in on the red head in the book store. Hold the focus."

I, Mark Cohen stand outside a local book store hoping to catch something worthwhile with my camera. All I can find is some chick in a store. I just hope she doesn't notice me. That would be awkward but the camera loves her. I don't think I have ever seen someone read a book with such concentration before.

"Shit! She's walking out of the store!" I quickly stop the camera and dash across the busy New York street. Out of the corner of my eye I see her look at me and then focus on her bags. Just then some guy grabs her knock off "Louie", ripping the straps. I must have had a temporary lose of sanity because I ran across the street and started chasing after him. I believe that it is safe to say that I'm not the heroic type nor am I a fast runner. That's why I was surprised when I actually caught up to him.

I grab the collar of his shirt and spin him around. I wasn't expecting was the blow to the face that awaited me. The force pushed me backward making me fall into someone's arms. The man runs away as I struggle to get my feet.

"Are you alright?" I hear a voice say. I look in the direction of the voice and see the red head.

"Uh...yea. I'm fine. What about you?" I quickly cover my nose which has been gushing blood.

"Better then you are. You better get that nose checked out." she said as she handed me a tissue for my face. I press the tissue to my face, praying that the bleeding will stop soon.

"I'm Kasey. Do I get to find out my almost hero's name?"

"I'm Mark. Sorry about not getting your purse back."

"It's alright. There wasn't much in there. He probably needs it more then I do. Thanks for trying anyway."

"You must not be a native. A real New Yorker wouldn't have looked so surprised when that happened." She chuckles slightly and I notice her piercing blue eyes for the very first time.

"Ok. You caught me. You're such a smartass for pointing that out. I just moved her two months ago. I came to audition for some dance companies."

"I suppose you haven't had a decent tour of the area yet."

She gives me the most adorable smile and nods before replying, "I guess you could say I'm a little overdue for one." She takes out a pen from her pocket and writes something on the back of my hand. "Here's my number. I might just take you up on that tour." She turns to go but I stop her by touching her shoulder. I could have sworn there was some sort of energy when I touched her. "Wait. Let me at least walk you home. You're not an official New Yorker yet."

"Thanks but you should really get to a clinic. I'll be fine. Thanks again." She turns around again and finally leaves. Right when she is out of sight, rain starts pouring down. I run in the opposite direction towards the free clinic. As I am running I see the ink on my hand fade away.


	2. Chapter 2

Still Searching by River of Tears

I lay down on the couch, too tired to try to find my bed. It was still raining when I had got out of the clinic. It turns out I had broken part of my nose which is now covered in a bandage. I was soaked when I got home. After changing into something dry I was just exhausted.

Roger who had been out with Mimi all day finally walked in. "Hey Mark. You're home. Anything to eat?"

I replied nastily, "You know the answer to that. We finished it yesterday."

"Right. And I suppose there's no money."

"Not much."

"Great. Dude, what happened to your face?"

I sighed and rolled over. "It's a long story."

"I'm not going anywhere. And besides it might take my mind off my stomach."

"There was a girl. Beautiful. I was filming her. Then some guy snatched her purse and I tried to get it back. No luck."

"Wow man. That's so unlike you."

"That's not all. She wrote her number on my hand and the rain took it away. I was going to take her out."

"But you haven't been on a date since Maureen."

I clenched my teeth. "I know."

"You going to try to find her?"

"How?" I sat up, now interested.

"Phone book?"

"Don't know her last name. Just know that it's Kasey. Besides she just moved her a couple months ago. She probably isn't in there yet."

"Well that makes it a little hard."

"Don't remind me."

We sat in silence for awhile until Roger spoke again. "Where were you filming her?"

"In a book store."

"She pay with a credit card?"

"What does that matter?"

"They could have her address on record."

"She used cash. I saw her."

"Still. Perhaps someone there knows her."

"Maybe. I'll try tomorrow."

"You really like her."

"I barely know her!"

"Ok. Whatever."

* * *

Once again I stood outside the bookstore. This time I was ready to go in. I walked through the door and a little bell signaled them of my arrival. I walked around the shelves of books for awhile before I went up to the front desk. There a man with bushy dark hair and a mustache to match was waiting for me. "May I help you?" He asked in a thick accent. He sounded Middle Eastern. Persian maybe? I was so distracted by his awful mustache that I didn't even respond. He asked again a little bit louder. "Oh! You were talking to me? Anyway I was wondering what you knew about a red headed girl named Kasey who was in here yesterday. She's a dancer."

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm a-uh…. Reporter." I showed him my camera.

"Fine. She comes here often but there is no pattern." At that moment some college guy decided to join our conversation. "Her last name is Odette or Audette or something." He said. "Who are you?" I asked him. "No one man", he replied, "just an admirer."

"Great." I said under my breath and left.

* * *

I shut myself up in my room with the only phone book that we hadn't burned for heat. I was becoming frustrated. There was no Kasey Audette in the phone book. There was a Michael who owned a hair salon but that's as close as I got with that. There are also no Odette's in the Manhattan area. Just then I heard a knock on my door. "I'm busy!" I yelled but Roger came in anyway. "Any luck?" He inquired.

"None at all. Her last name is either Odette or Audette and I'm not finding anything with either of them."

"I didn't hear the difference between the two names."

"They're completely two different names, Rog."

"You sure? Because one of them just sounds like you're trying to sound like a cow and the other you don't."

"Stick to being a musician and leave the comedy to the comedians."

"Thanks for your support, Mark. So there's no Audette in the phonebook?"

"There's a Michael Audette who has a hair salon but that's it."

"Maybe they're related."

"It's possible but I doubt it."

"You should totally go and check." He put an arm around my shoulders. "You need a hair cut anyway."

"I'm not wasting money for a haircut when Mimi can do it here. I'm also not going all the way there to ask a stupid question."

"Then just call him. That simple."

"Fine! I will!" I stormed out of my room and to the phone. I quickly dialed the number. It started ringing and my heart started racing.

"Hello. Michael's hair salon."

"Um…Hi. Michael?"

"Yes?"

"You wouldn't happen to be related to anyone named Kasey Audette would you?"

"No. Who is this?" I hung up right at that moment. "Ok. I made a complete fool of myself in front of a stranger. Are you happy now?"

"Now now. It wasn't "in front of" per say."

"Oh shut up. I'm going for a walk."


	3. Chapter 3

Still Searching by River of Tears

I put on my coat and scarf and I headed out the door. It was chilly outside like all December nights. I stopped under a streetlight when I saw someone running towards me. It was too dark to even guess the sex of the person. I didn't know if they saw me or not but I guess that they didn't because they just kept on running towards me. As they got closer I could see that it was a girl with fairly long hair. I moved out from under the light and thought about calling out to her. Perhaps she was in trouble. Oh no. I wasn't doing that again. Last time I tried to help some girl I got a broken nose. Before I could ponder anymore about it I was knocked down to the hard sidewalk, someone's weight on top of me. "Oh gosh, Mark, are you ok?" the weight said.

"I'm fine. Kasey?"

"I guess it's your turn to catch me."

"Why were you running?" I asked, helping her get off of me.

"Not use to nighttime in a neighborhood like this. Ever since that incident…I'll never get used to this place." She brushed herself off and offered me her hand. "I'm glad that I ran into you. Literally." I picked up the bag that she dropped and held in a groan. The bag was heavier than all the camera equipment that I've ever owned put together. I handed it to her and forced a smile. "What do you have in there? Rocks?"

"Yea actually. It makes it harder for people to steal." She grinned at me but I still didn't know if she was being facetious.

"I see. Can I walk you home now?" She didn't say anything, only started walking.

Silence fell over us. I shoved my hands into my pockets, trying to think of something to say. It was Kasey that broke the silence. "You don't have your camera."

"I kind of left in a hurry. Besides I haven't been finding good enough material anyway. I'm sorry I never called. I know this sounds like a lame excuse but the rain washed the number away." I looked over at her and she just laughed. "It's fine. My apartment is this way." We turned the corner onto Avenue A and stopped at a stoop. "This is my building. Thanks for walking with me."

"Hold on! Are you still up for that tour? I'm free Sunday."

"Yea. Sunday is fine. Be here at 10 AM." With that she opened the door and left me standing there.

I headed back to the loft. I was numb by the time I reached my door. I stuck the key in the door and jiggled it around. This time it was stuck from the cold. Now matter how hard I tried the door knob would not budge. I was just about to bang on the door when it opened, reveling Roger. "I thought I heard something. I thought it might be somebody breaking in."

"Yea," I sneered, "Who would want to break into this? I still don't know why we even lock the doors."

"So how was your walk? Anything interesting happen?"

I eyed him over before answering. "Yes actually. I ran into Kasey." I continued to stare at Rog. How would he know to ask such a thing?

"That's pretty amazing. What are the chances?"

"Yea," I muttered, "What are the chances..."

"You talked to her right?"

"Of course I did! We made plans to do something Sunday." I flopped down on the couch. "Now I just need to figure out places I can take her for cheap and where I can get the money."

"Don't worry about that too much man. Besides, I'm proud of you. For awhile it seemed like you were tired of playing the game."

"I am tired of playing the game." I took off my scarf and my shoes and rested my head on the pillow.

"Well, let's hope you don't have to play for too much longer. And that she stays straight."

"You got that right."

"And that she doesn't cheat."

"I just hope she doesn't know how to tango."

"What?" Roger gave me a confused look.

"Oh nothing."

"Whatever. You going to bed now?"

"No. Not yet. I'm going to stay up and edit some of my footage. I'm thinking about going in a whole other angle."

I'm going to stop here because I'm really tired. I just had to get this out for you guys.

Thank you all who have been reading. I've decided to reply to some of the comments here.

AngelxCollins- No, unfortunately Angel is dead even though I wish she wasn't. I should probably change the summary.

Panda Slippers- I guess my writing isn't that original lol. Perhaps you should finish the story. .


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